#ShortStory: Pay Me In… PT. 3

May 12, 2017

Author’s Note:

Hold up! There’s a part 1and part 2to this. Read those first before continuing.

Here it is! Part 3 and the conclusion to my blog’s erotic series, “Pay Me In…” I kind of broke my own rule. This was written in 32-hours instead of 24-hours and it is a little over 5k words long. But I couldn’t cut it short so…

As always, this has been lightly edited and contains… aw, you should already know. Thanks for reading this far 😉. Let me know what you thought about the story in the comments! 😘

Title: Pay Me In… PT. 3

“Damn, I wish I was back in bed with my man,” Janae said to herself.

Now on campus, she smiled politely at familiar faces, exchanging cordial “hellos” as she passed them by. She made her way down the building’s hall headed to the library. On her way there, she breezed past young couples holding hands, seated close to each other, studying. Seeing this made her briefly reminisce about the few minutes she and Cornell spent together in bed that morning.

Like the other times, they didn’t have to speak. The two just laid there facing each other, gazing while caressing. Fingertips gliding over skin, then running through hair strands. Cornell teased her between her thighs then kissed her on the forehead before she rolled out of bed to get dressed and leave. It was the simple things that made her feel alive and so in love with him. Her smile fell into a pout when her thoughts of him are quickly replaced with the smug expression Charity had on her face when the two dialogued in the kitchen. This was before Janae stormed out of the co-op.

The moment she got into the LIU student library, Janae plopped herself down onto her seat. She swung her bag around her chair then dropped her head into her hands. Janae took one long deep breath then blew the air out of her mouth. She loved Cornell, but her involvement with him killed her softly. Her new living arrangement was taking a toll on her psyche. Other than that moment when Cornell was her focus, for her entire walk headed to the school, all she could think about was Charity and her bullshit.

“I don’t even know why she feels she needs to talk to me,” she said to herself, shaking her head.

Janae hated leaving early most mornings to get away from Charity. Leaving her man in the co-op alone with Charity was an idea Janae hated even more. But the worse had already happened and Janae was confident that she had a place in Cornell’s heart that Charity could never replace.

She pushed her hand into her coat pocket in search of her phone, placing it on top of the table the moment she found it. She pressed her phone’s home button to check the time and noticed she had one missed phone call. The number was unfamiliar, but she recognized the 212 New York City area code.

“Who the hell is this?” she asked herself low.

“Hey, Janae,” she heard over her shoulder.

Janae turned to see her former roommate, Shayla, standing behind her sporting a smile.

“What’s up, girl!” Janae said, standing up to pull Shayla into a hug.

These two have been friends since meeting at freshman orientation, rooming together on campus and deciding to get an apartment along with their other friends off campus. After getting evicted, Shayla also without money, chose to squat live with another friend, Gigi, who has an extra bed in her room since Gigi didn’t have a roommate for that semester.

“Oh, you know,” Shayla shrugged. “Just tryna get by. How you feeling?”

“I’m all right,” Janae replied.

“I bet. I hear you living fancy in a co-op with your boo, Cornell.”

“Hmph,” Janae huffed. She and Shayla were close but not close enough for Janae to divulge her problems to her. “It’s aight.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s better than my damn situation,” Shayla replied frowning. “There are too many people living in that dorm room right now. Every week this bitch Gigi’s inviting someone new to stay in her small ass room. And she doesn’t know how to keep her hands off my stuff. Every day I catch her with her hands in my cereal. She knows how much I love eating my Lucky Charms in the morning but she stay finishing it and never replacing it.”

Janae pursed her lips together and tried not to roll her eyes. “If cereal is the only thing Gigi won’t keep her hands off, your roommate situation is not that bad, Shay, trust me.”

“The only reason I deal with her is because I don’t have nowhere else to go right now. I’m not even supposed to be in her room.”

“I know how that goes,” Janae mumbled.

“Huh? What you say?” Shayla questioned.

“Nothing,” Janae replied.

Janae’s eyes were back down on her phone starring at the unfamiliar phone number as Shayla continued complaining about her roommate.

“Anyway, Shay,” Janae said, gathering her stuff and standing to her feet. “I gotta bounce.”
She’d just arrived to the library, but she knew she wouldn’t get any studying done with Shayla running her mouth in her ear about a roommate situation that was peanuts compared to her own.

The minute she stepped outside, Janae called back that 212 number. Her call was answered on the first ring.

“Conway and Associates,” the receptionist said.

Janae gasped.

One month ago, Janae applied for an internship at Conway & Associates, an investment firm in Manhattan. As a finance major, she had done no internships and had been focusing on maintaining her near perfect grade point average.

She always felt juggling school with work would have a negative impact on her grades. So she opted to hold off on paid internships. When she went to the interview, it was just to try her luck.

This was a week after the incident with Cornell and Charity so Janae wasn’t even in a good mood or at her best. She convinced herself after the interview that she wouldn’t get the job and forgot all about it until this point.

“Conway and Associates,” the lady repeated.

“Uh, yeah,” Janae stammered. She cleared her throat then said, “I received a phone call from this number a few minutes ago.”

“Your name?”

“Janae… Janae Waters.”

“One moment please.”

No longer than five seconds later, another woman got on the phone line.

“Ms. Waters?” she asked. “This is Carmen Jacobs. You interviewed with me last month for the financial adviser internship?”

Janae smiled big. “Yes I remember. How are you?”

“I’m well. Listen, I have to make this brief because I’m heading into a meeting. I want to offer you a paid internship at our firm. You’d work when not at school and we’re willing to mold around your schedule. The position’s hourly rate starts at just $20 an hour but there’s an opportunity to go full-time after you graduate. And we are generous with our salary and benefits package for new hires. But that’s just between you and me.”

What she mean by just $20 an hour?! Janae thought to herself, grinning. That’s more than enough.

“If you need some time to think about–”

“I’ll take it,” Janae replied. Gravity was the only thing keeping her from jumping up and down and she tried her hardest not to scream. Tears welled in her eyes and her mind calculated all the things she could get once she got her first check. The one thing that kept coming to mind was she and Cornell finally being able to get their own place and move the hell out of Charity’s co-op.

“All right, then. I love it! Someone who isn’t into wasting my time and playing hard to get,” Carmen joked.

Janae giggled.

“Okay, so I’ll have my assistant get right into drafting up the paperwork. She’ll reach out to you on Monday with the details and when you can come in.”

“Great, thank you, Ms. Jacobs.”

“No, thank you, Janae. And please, just call me
Carmen. I look forward to seeing you in the office.”

The moment Janae ended the phone call she dialed up Cornell to share the good news.

“Baby, guess what!”

###

Cornell suggested that he and Janae meet up after their last class. He insisted they celebrate her new internship by visiting Juniors restaurant across the street to get a slice of her favorite cake, a strawberry cheesecake. He’d told her that he had good news of his own that he wanted to share. She had no plans after school so she agreed. Janae was the type to cancel her plans for Cornell without him asking, anyway.

At around 6 p.m., Janae made her way toward the main exit of the building where her last class was. Even in the early evening dark, she spotted Cornell immediately as she pushed through the turning doors of the building. He was sitting on top of one bench along the walkway with his back facing her, feet propped up on the seat below him.

His view was on the restaurant across the street. She could’ve called him from the door to get his attention but she wanted to sneak up on him and catch him off guard. But the moment she got close enough to him, he asked, “what up, Janae?”

She kissed her teeth. “Damn. How’d you even know I was walking up behind you?”

He turned to face her, already smiling. She couldn’t help but to smile back. “I can feel your presence, baby,” he said reaching for her as she walked around the bench, moving in front of him. “That’s how connected we are.”

“Here you go,” she said as she walked between his legs. Cornell pushed his hand under the weight of her messenger bag, palming her ass.

He pulled her to him and when she was close, he gave her a peck on her lips before moving her hair out of the way to kiss her on the neck.

“Cornell, quit boy,” she said, giggling.

“Stop frontin’. You know you love it,” he said, sitting back and smoothing his fingers over her scalp then through her hair.

Moans hummed from her mouth before she bit her bottom lip.

“Cornell, chill, not out here. You know what that does.”

He laughed. “Aight, let’s go.”

Across the street and in front of the curved glass display case, Janae stared at the packaged cakes. Juniors was a spot her mother used to bring her to when she was a little girl. Janae would get the cheesecake while her mother got the strawberry shortcake. Though Janae’s mother died when Janae was only 10-years old, the memory of their visits to the restaurant stuck with Janae. Growing up with her father and grandmother, neither one could afford to buy it as often as she would have liked. So, as a teen she cured her cravings with her memories.

“Mmm,” she said rubbing her stomach. “They always make me want to change my mind when I get in here.”

Cornell leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You could get the cheesecake and something else.”

“Boy, please. We barely have the money for the cheesecake.”

“Don’t worry about that. Tonight it’s all about you.”

The lady cashier called to them from the register. “Next.”

When they were in front of her, the cashier asked, “what can I get for you?”

Cornell said, “anything she wants.”

The cashier smiled.

“Just the strawberry cheesecake, thanks,” Janae said.

“You sure, baby?” Cornell confirmed.

She turned to him and gave him a look.

He laughed, looking back at the cashier. “Aight, just the cake.”

When the woman walked away, Janae asked, “what’s up, Rockefeller? Why are you making it seem like you got the cash like that? Like we don’t got rent to pay tomorrow.”

He twisted his mouth to the side then looked away.

“I know you’re paying rent because I know for a fact that you don’t think I’m gonna tolerate the same shit you agreed to do last month.”

“Not in here, Janae,” he said with a stern voice.

She folded her arms and tightened her jaw.

After getting the cheesecake and stepping outside, Cornell asked, “you wanna catch a movie at the Pavilion in Park Slope.”

Janae whipped her head in his direction. “Huh?”

“A movie.”

“I heard what you asked, Cornell. Is it free?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to worry about it, tonight?”

Janae scrunched up her face. “What is up with you, Cornell? How can we afford this?”

“I got a job as a peer tutor in The Learning Support Center.”

Janae’s face lit up quick. “What!”

Cornell smiled and her heart melted. She wouldn’t admit it, but his looks had a lot to do with her love and attraction for him. His light eyes and smooth caramel skin, height, and basketball player physique kept her hook long enough for her to mess up and fall in love with his ass.

“I start next week. It pays $12 an hour. It ain’t no $20 an hour or nothing but–”

“Babe,” she said hugging him, “that’s what’s up! Congratulations!”

He leaned forward and kissed her.

“Now we can bounce out of the co-op from hell sooner than I thought.”

He forced a smile. “Yeah, um, I wanna discuss something with you.”

“What?”

“Let’s do it at the theater.”

“Cornell, people don’t go to the movies to talk.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

###

Cornell and Janae sat all the way in the back of the theater. They chose a dated movie to watch, one that was set to go off screen and on to DVD the following week. So there was only but five other people in that theater and they were all seated separate and far apart.

Cornell snuck the cheesecake into the theater inside his NorthFace. At the concession stand, he bought soda, popcorn, and a box of caramels, something Janae objected to.

“So what’s up?” She asked turning to him once she was done with her cake. “What did you want to talk about?”

The lights had already dimmed minutes ago, and the screen lit up with promos and previews.

“I didn’t plan on paying rent this month with the money we have saved,” he told her.

She turned aggressively in her seat and he tried to lift his hand to her face but she swatted it away.

“Excuse me?!” she asked in a loud whisper.

“Shh,” he hissed.

Janae gritted her teeth.

“But I don’t have to do the same thing I had to do last month, so we’re good.”

Janae looked at him with furrowed brows. “You don’t?”

“Nah.”

“Aight, then cool!” she said, smiling. “Why wouldn’t you lead with that?”

When she noticed he had said nothing in response and he didn’t seem as relieved as her, she stared at him with suspicion.

“What’s the catch?”

“What?”

“The catch, Cornell,” she repeated. “I know that crazy bitch is not gonna let us live in that place without no kind of compensation. That’s very out of character for her.”

He sighed.

“So, what does she want this time?”

He looked at her and said, “she wanna watch.”

Janae was quiet, her face set in a scowl. Finally she asked, “watch, what?”

“Us.”

“Do?”

“It,” he answered.

Janae scoffed and positioned herself to stand to her feet to storm out.

Cornell grabbed her gently by the arm to get her back in her seat.

The movie had just started but Janae couldn’t care less about that. Her pulse was racing, jaw tight, and her pressure was rising the more she imagined what was being suggested. She was steaming.

When Cornell got her back in her seat, she shoved him. “I know exactly why you brought me here,” she said low, doing her best to keep from yelling at him. “So I wouldn’t go off on your ass. Cornell, I swear to God.”

“Just hear me out.”

“Hell no!” she said in a loud whisper. “To you and her. Hell fucking no.”

“Janae just listen.”

“That’s private what we do. Sacred, despite the circumstances of me having to share you then and now,” she said referring to his time as an escort. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I know it’s crazy.”

“Nah, that shit is insane. She’s the one who’s crazy.”

“I know but—”

“No. Not silly crazy. She’s clinically fucked up. What kind of sick shit is that? Watch other people have sex?”

“But bae, we do it all the time when we’re watching porn.”

She turned her lip up at him. “The only difference is I ain’t no porn star, Cornell.”

“Just listen to—”

“Who’s to say that she won’t want more after this since she got a history of switching up. What if she wants us both next time? Or eventually just me? And I’ll die before that happens.”

“It won’t. This will be it. I’ve already made her agree to this being the last time for anything and we go back to paying her money.”

“Never make a deal with the devil, Cornell.”

They stared at each other.

“Why can’t we pay her now?” Janelle questioned.

“You know we don’t got the $700.”

“Give the bitch whatever we got and tell her we’ll get the rest to her as soon as we get it. We’re about to come into some money in the next few weeks, anyway.”

“You know Charity ain’t the understanding type, Janae.”

Janae exhaled loudly and dropped her head into her hands. “How did I get myself into this shit?”

Cornell wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and held her tight.

“I’ll keep her at a comfortable distance. You won’t even know she’s there. This’ll buy us a couple of weeks until we have enough to put a down payment on a crib. We’ll do this in time for rent next month so that when she asks, we’ll already be prepared to bounce. This is a game of chess, Janae. It ain’t ideal but we can make this work.”

“I don’t get why she wants to watch? For what?”

“She said she’s curious.”

Janae leaned away and sat up in her seat, staring at him. “Curious about what?”

“Why I’m so hooked on you,” he replied leaning close to her. He buried his fingers in her hair and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back. She wouldn’t admit it but below the shock and feeling offended, she was a little intrigued.

“So,” he continued, “I’m gonna show her why I can’t get enough of you. And I promise after tomorrow night, she won’t be curious no more.”

###

Janae sat at the edge of the bathtub with a bottle of Hennessy in her grip. The hem of her short PINK robe slid up her thighs as she lifted the bottle to her lips to take a slow swig. In a few minutes, she had to step outside and into she and Cornell’s bedroom to make love in front of an audience of one.

Just the thought of it all, made her tilt her head back and pour the liquor into her mouth this time gulping it twice. She’d been in there for close to twenty minutes first showering then drinking. She figured, if she had to go through with this nonsense, she might as well be intoxicated so that it all felt like a blur the next day. Brown liquor always got her wilder than she normally is, anyway. It always allowed her to let down her inhibitions, summoning her inner freak. So, she was hoping it helped her tonight.

“Where she at?” she heard Charity ask Cornell on the other side of the door.

“She’s getting ready,” he answered.

“I don’t got all night. She need to hurry.”

Janae inhaled deeply before blowing the air out of her mouth. She wrapped her fingers around the neck of the bottle tight, imagining it was Charity’s neck instead.

If it wasn’t for the necessary living arrangement, she would have kicked Charity’s ass long ago. She wasn’t a fighter, but rage would help her figure all that out.

The bathroom’s doorknob turned before Cornell pushed it open and stepped inside.

From her view, she spotted Charity standing behind him with her arms folded. “Oh, uh-uh. I do not want her all sloppy drunk while fucking.”

Cornell turned to glare at Charity over his shoulder. “Can you chill? Give us a moment and we’ll be out.”

Charity was about to respond but he closed the door in her face.

Janae looked up at him from her seat at the edge of the tub.

“You ready?”

Janae took another swig. “I’m not drunk enough for this yet.”

He chuckled, grabbing the bottle and gently removing it from her hand, placing it on the bathroom counter.

Janae thought to plead one last time. “We can go stay in Shayla’s room for a bit.”

“You mean Gigi’s room?” He shook his head. “First, that’s illegal. I don’t even want to know how they haven’t gotten caught yet. Second, Gigi got like four other people living, illegally, in that tiny ass room.”

Janae grunted. “Then we can go to a shelter.”

“Hell nah!” Cornell yelled before taking a breath to calm down. “I’m not about to have you in nobody’s shelter, Janae. Never that.”

She dropped her head between her shoulders. Her head felt light, her vision foggy. The liquor had finally done the work of relieving some of her tension.

“We got this,” he said lifting her chin, so she’d look at him then smiled at her. “I’m about to get you drunk out there, you don’t need no more of this henny.”

Finally convinced, Janae followed close behind Cornell as they exited the bathroom. As soon as they stepped into the bedroom, she spotted Charity sitting far away and in the corner, slightly hidden by a shadow.

“It’s about time,” she said. “You better be worth the wait.”

Janae’s heart started beating fast.

“Ignore her,” he said in Janae’s ear. “She ain’t here.”

“Nope,” Charity said leaning forward in her seat, the moonlight outside offering enough light for Janae to make out the sharp features of Charity’s face. “I want to hear everything, no whispering.”

In front of their bed, and opposite Charity, Cornell stood in front of Janae and untied her robe. “It’s just you and me tonight, aight? Just like every other night.”

Janae looked to her right at Charity then back at Cornell and nodded.

The robe was off when Cornell guided her back onto the bed. All she had on now, were her panties.

He was running his hands down her legs, feeling her up and getting her in the mood when Charity grunted in the corner. “Taking forever to get started, huh?”

Cornell didn’t take his eyes off Janae when he said, “we been started from the time her robe came off. This is just what we do. I like to take my time with my woman. Ain’t that right, baby?”

Janae smiled at him.

He turned to look at Charity. “You said you wanted to see what we do. This what we do. So, sit back and chill and watch with your eyes and not with your mouth.”

With his hands sliding down her thigh inching close to her honeypot, her breathing became audible. She turned to look at Charity and he guided her view back on him with the tip of his finger. Cornell hovered over her and kissed her on the lips.

He moved between her legs and pulled back a little, lowering himself to kiss Janae from her knees up to her thighs.

He asked her, “do you remember the first time we met?”

Janae smiled then nodded.

“Psychology 101. And you wasn’t trying to give no guys in that class any play. They all tried, but I learned how to approach you from watching them fail.”

His hands gripped the side of her panties, pulling them down slow and over her hips. “So, instead of asking you out on a date. I asked you if we could study together.”

She giggled, lifting her ass so he could remove her panties easier. He hovered over her then slid his middle and ring finger down his tongue, wetting them before bringing his fingertips to her clit.

She opened her legs wider and arched her back.

“Do you remember the first time we kissed?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she moaned.

He moaned too at just the sight of her relaxing and getting in the moment. “It was right here in this room. We were studying for different classes and I asked you why you wasn’t checking for a man.” He lowered himself to her so that he could kiss her. And when he did, he briefly slipped her his tongue.

On her lips he said, “and you told me your man was your textbook.”

She giggled.

“I was feeling you way too hard to accept that. So, right before you left to head back to the dorms, I grabbed you by the hand, got real close, and kissed you like this against my bedroom door.”

His lips were back on hers, slipping his tongue slowly into her mouth then giving her erotic strokes. Just like the very first time they kissed, she felt spellbound. That day when they made out for the first time, she felt like they’d made love because he was so sensual with his kiss.

Much like he was being right now.

After a few minutes of that, he pulled away a little to add, “I told myself if she doesn’t kiss me back I’ll apologize and try again some other time. But if she kisses me then I’m gonna make her mine right then and there.”

Janae’s hands were on each side of his cheeks when she said, “and you did.”

Charity sucked her teeth from a distance.

When Janae turned briefly to look in her direction, she saw Charity uncross then cross her legs again. Her arms were folded tight when her legs fidgeted. Even in the dark, Janae could tell Charity was getting uncomfortable.

In that moment, it clicked. She knew exactly what Cornell was doing. He was giving Charity a show to put her in her place. And Janae was tipsy enough at this point to play along.

Janae stretched her arm to reach for one of the gold wrapped condoms laying on the top of her night table. She brought it to her teeth and ripped it open.

Cornell smiled then licked his lips.

He asked, “you ready?”

Janae smiled back. “Are you ready?”

“Aw, shit,” he whispered, lowering his lips to her neck.

With him between her legs, she sheathed his erection and opened her legs wider. She held him in her grip and rubbed the head of his dick against her clit, moaning at the sensation.

“Do you remember when we…?” He couldn’t finish his sentence as he slid in her slow. And all she did was nod.

“Not fucked, “ he added, “because we did a lot of that. I’m talking about when the loving was so good, it bonded our souls.”

Janae’s insides held him tight as he moved back and forth… in and out.

“We were laying in this bed, just chillin’ in the dark. We wasn’t even planning to have sex that night, but you looked at me with them eyes and smiled. And for me, sex wouldn’t be enough to show you how I was feeling about you.

So, I told you I loved you while inside of you.”

She propped her upper body up on her elbows, pushing him back until he was flat on the bed so she could straddle him.

“There you go, baby,” he whispered as she slowly lowered herself on top of him. He moaned as he entered her inch by inch.

She circled her hips over him. When she wasn’t doing that she slid back and forth against his erection. Her head hung back as he palmed her breasts, doing his damnedest to keep up. That henny had hit the right spot. Because after a while, she’d forgotten that Charity was even there. Cornell sat up and palmed each of her ass cheeks meeting her pelvic movements with his thrusts.

They moaned loud, lost in the moment and in pure ecstasy. Janae’s body was sensitive her nerves heightened as Cornell tapped all her spots. Her right nipple was in his mouth when she gyrated her hips over him her center moving slow against his hard-on, feeling her insides pulse.

He changed positions immediately and was on top of her again. He had one leg hiked over his forearm and the fabric of the pillowcase below her head in his grip as he fucked her, inching her closer to a screaming orgasm.

When she wasn’t moaning he was grunting. They sounded like animals as they went at it sensually rough. Alcohol always made her body sensitive to his touch and was not failing her tonight.

She yelled, “I’m coming!”

To which he replied, “I’m coming, too, baby.”

They came hard. Her yelling her pleasure him grunting and moaning with each last stroke . Her wetness and his movements made slick noises in the room. Their bodies equally wet with sweat.

He collapsed on top of her as they struggled to catch their breaths. And she held him tight, massaging the back of his head with her fingers. He looked up at her, bringing his lips to hers to kiss.

The two only stopped kissing when they heard their bedroom door closing, the chair in the corner now empty.

###

Janae sat in the kitchen the next morning with a half-finished cup of coffee in front of her and her forehead in her hand. Her head was pounding like crazy, her stomach flipping. Janae was hung over. The sunlight seemed to blaze through the window like a house fire as Charity made her way into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Sunshine.”

Janae rolled her eyes. “Charity, not today.”

“All I said was good morning.”

Janae looked up at Charity to see her smiling at her. For a moment Janae felt self-conscious. This woman had witnessed one of the most private moments of Janae’s life and the two didn’t even like each other. Janae couldn’t help but to feel just a little embarrassed.

Janae pushed her seat back, ready to exit the kitchen.

“What was that last night?” Charity asked, taking a seat across from Janae.

“What?”

“What y’all did.”

“We had sex, Charity. You know what it was, you were there, unfortunately.”

“Nah,” Charity shook her head. “I’ve had plenty of sex and it never looked like that. His hands were all over you. Nelly… I mean, Cornell, has never done that with me.”

Janae shrugged. “Well…”

She stood up from her seat to walk her mug to the sink and Charity followed her there.

“What’s it like?”

“What’s what like?” Janae countered, her eyes in the sink as she wasted the last of her coffee then rinsed out her cup.

“Making love. What’s that feel like?”

Janae turned to Charity.

“You’ve never…” Janae said, pausing when she noticed the sad look in Charity’s eyes. She also noticed the interest.

For the first time in their dealings, Charity wasn’t trying to poke at or provoke her. She stood there waiting. Her eyes locked with Janae, genuinely curious.

Janae’s features softened, and she felt the one thing she never thought she’d feel for someone like Charity: sympathy.

“I don’t know how to describe it..”

Charity sighed. “Come on, Ms. Einstein.” She cracked a smile. “I know you’re smart enough to at least find the words to describe it. All them big words you be using around here.”

Janae twisted her mouth to the side thinking. She couldn’t believe the two were actually about to talk, civilly. It felt kind of good.

Janae said, “okay, umm… I guess it’s like… time doesn’t matter and like penetration is secondary because everything else feels just as good. But when you do, do it, the feeling is amplified.”

Charity nodded, waiting for Janae to continue.

“It’s like a cyclical pleasure where we’re both obsessed with wanting to make each other feel better than how we’re making each other feel at that moment. We’re selfless and care more about each other’s orgasm more than our own… if that makes sense.”

Charity asked, “do you two come together a lot… like y’all did last night?”

“Not always. But sometimes it happens.”

“Hmph… that’s real,” Charity said before turning to walk out of the kitchen.

###

About two days later as Janae was leaving she and Cornell’s room to head to class, she spotted the back end of Charity and a large designer suitcase exiting the co-op.

“Where is she going?” she asked Cornell as the front door closed. Janae walked into the kitchen to find Cornell sitting at the table.

“She’s moving out.”

“What?!”

Apparently, she had another fully furnished co-op in the building on the first floor that she could have moved into from months ago.

“Well, why is she leaving now?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “She just told me she ain’t gonna bother us no more and that she was just gonna stay in the apartment downstairs. She offered for us to stay here as long as we want but I told her we have plans to bounce soon.”

Janae kissed her teeth. “She’s so damn random and unpredictable.”

He laughed. “Funny you say that because she also admitted she could’ve never put us out like that.”

Janae stared at him confused. “What does she mean by that?”

“We’ve been here for over 30-days. And even though our name ain’t on the lease, she would have to go through a lot of shit to get us to leave since New York City law wouldn’t allow her to just kick us out in the middle of the night.”

Janae wouldn’t tell Cornell this, but she knew exactly why Charity left. Charity probably wasn’t looking for the physical anymore. She wanted what she saw that night between Cornell and Janae. And although she knew she could get the physical from him, Charity knew she could never get that side of Cornell that came so naturally to him and that he gave so eagerly to Janae. And as spoiled as she was, Charity wasn’t about to settle for less.